Unitized tooling

ABSTRACT

A unitized tooling has a punch guide extending down a substantial distance from an upper arm of a C-frame type holder into close adjacency to a workpiece supporting surface on the bottom arm of the holder. The thickness of the punch guide along the longitudinal length or throat depth of the holder is substantially less than the thickness of the punch guide at right angles to the throat depth so that structural workpieces such as angles or channels having legs at right angles to one another can be punched with the leg facing up and with the leg positioned on either side of the punch guide. A second embodiment includes a lower arm of a C-frame type holder which includes an upwardly extending die holder of a thickness along the longitudinal length of the holder substantially less than the thickness of the die holder at right angles to the longitudinal length of the holder in a manner similar to that of the punch guide so that I-bars or the like can be punched close to their end legs.

United States Patent [191 Daniels [54] UNITIZED TOOLING [75] Inventor: Dennis Daniels, Bellevue, Wash.

[73] Assignee: U.S. Amada, Ltd., Seattle, Wash.

[22] Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 304,100

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 269,983, July 10,

1972, abandoned.

52 US. Cl 3/140, 83/559,-83/588 [51] Int. B26f l/02 [58] Field of Search 83/140, 559, 560, 588

[56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 627,033 6/1899 Williams 83/559 3,253,493 5/1966 Weisbeck 83/559 3,391,593 7/1968 Jordan 233/559 x 3,429,212 2/1969 Weisbeck.. 83/559 X 3,712,161 l/l973 Valente 83/560 X 3,741,056 6/1973 Saladin 83/588 X June 11, 1974 [57 ABSTRACT A unitized tooling has a punch guide extending down a substantial distance from an upper arm of a C-frame type holder into close adjacency to a workpiece supporting surface'on the bottom arm of the holder. The thickness of the punch guide along the longitudinal length or throat depth of the holder is substantially less than the thickness of the punch guide at right angles to the throat depth so that structural workpieces such as angles or channels having legs at right angles to one another can be punched with the leg facing up and with the leg positioned on either side of the punch guide.

A second embodiment includes a lower arm of a C-frame type holder which includes an upwardly extending die holder of a thickness along the longitudinal length of the holder substantially less than the thickness of the die holder at right angles to the longitudinal length of the holder in a manner similar to that of the punch guide so that I-bars or the like can be punched close to their end legs.

1 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures UNITIZEI) TOOLING This application is a continuation in part of copending U.S. applicationSer. No. 269,983, filed July 10, 1972 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention I This invention pertains to unitized tooling of the type having a C-frame holder for a punch and a die. In particular, the invention is especially advantageously employed with a turret type ironworker of the type shown in my co-pending US. patent application, Ser. No. 116,123; filed Mar. 18, 1971.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior art unitized tooling of the type generally designed for punching structural members having legs at angles to one another, such as channels and angles or the like, have heretofore frequently used a pedestal tooling design. The pedestal type of tooling employs a C-frame holder with an upper armand a lower arm or base which supports a die elevated a substantial distance from the surface of the base. An angle, for example, is punched with one of its legs facing downwardly and resting against the outer end of the holder. There are several-disadvantages to the pedestal tooling. First, the inherent structural requirements for a C-frame holder require that there be limits on the die and shut heights in order that the tooling be compatible either with other tooling or the limitations on the stroke of the press ram. These limitations when related to the necessary mass of the C-frame for structural strength substantially reduce the capacity of the tooling. For example, given a die height of 3 H2 inches a typical vertical thickness of the bottom leg of a C-frame holder for a pedestal tooling, is generally about 13/4 inches, leaving only 1 3/4 inches remaining for possible upward extension of the die. Since the capacity of pedestal toolingis limited, punching of structural members having a leg longer than the 1 3/4 inches capacity of the die holder requires always that the leg be faced downwardly over the end of the lower arm and thatthe structural member be rotated end-for-end when punching another leg of the structural member with the previously punched leg then faced downwardly along side the outer end of the holder. A considerable quantity of structural members generally have leg lengths of three inches which is more than the die height above the bottom leg of the pedestal tooling. Furthermore, a considerable quantity of structural members are 10, 20, 30 or more feet in length. In view of the length, it can be readily appreciated that it is very time consuming and difficult for a workman to remove the structural member from the holder and rotate it end-for-end in order to begin punching of the opposite leg. Another disadvantage in the pedestal holder, is that in a leg down position an angle, for example, tends'to slide off the die since its center of gravity is not along the axis of the die and theangle is not supported at any other position to counteract the offset center of gravity..Thus a workman must continuously hold the angle on the die.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a unitized tooling having a greater capacity for a given shut and die height.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unitized tooling for structural members having legs at angles to one another, such as channels or angles, in which the structural member can be punched with either leg facing upwardly.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unitized tooling which allows for more efficient handling of the structural members being punched or notched.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a unitized tooling having a greater capacity-but which is of standardized shut and die heights so'as to be compatible with other unitized toolings for a ram having a relatively fixed ram stroke length.

Basically the invention comprises a C-type holder having an upper arm and a base or lower arm with a punch guide and a punch in the upper arm extending downwardly a substantial distance close to a die in the base. With this arrangement a structural workpiece such as an angle having two legs can be punched with a leg facing upwardly. The leg can be positioned upwardly on either side of the punch either toward or away from the throat of the C-frame holder and the die height and shut height can be maintained at a minimum so that the unit is compatible with other typesv of unitized tooling. Since the leg can extend upwardly along either side of the punch, the workpiece can be punched on one leg and then removed and turned about its longitudinal axis to be punched in the other leg without the need for turning the workpiece end-for-end. The minimization of shut and die heights make the unit compatible with turret type ironworkers of the type shown in said co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 116,123, in which the length of the punching stroke is relatively fixed. The strength of' the punch guide'is obtained by a wide transverse dimension and its thickness along the longitudinal axis of the work holder is minimized so that the leg of a workpiece can be punched close up to the upwardly facing leg of the workpiece. Furthermore, with this arrangement the capacity of the C-type frame holder can accommodate longer angle legs than heretofore accommodated on the pedestal-type unitized tooling. Still further, with this arrangement, the offset center of gravity on the angle will not slide the angle off the die since the workpiece supporting surface around the die will support the angle in a leg-up position without further support from the machine operator. The wide transverse dimension also allows the use of dual stripper springs on either side of the punch.

In one embodiment designed for larger ironworkers not requiring the standard shut height of standardized iron-workers the unique downwardly extending punch and punch guide with its thin dimension along the throat length and its thick dimension at right angles to the throat length is combined with an upwardly extending die'holder also having a thin dimension along the throat length and a thick dimension at right angles to the throat length so that I bar, T bar or the like members can be punched close to the end leg or legs of the member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a tooling unit embodying the principles of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 22 shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of unitized tooling embodying the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE. DRAWINGS As best shown in FIG. I the unitized tooling comprises a C-frame holder having an upper arm 11, a base or lower arm 12 and a back 14 joining the base and upper arm. As is well known, the area between the upper arm and the base is defined as a throat 16. Mounted in the base is a die or die button 18 having an upper cutting edge 18a raised only slightly above the surface of the base. Surrounding the die is a workpiece supporting surface which, as will be described, supports the angle or other workpiece W while it is being punched or notched. As is well known an ejection pas sage 22 is provided inthe base to remove the slugs cut from the workpiece. A pilot pin 24 is provided on the bottom of the base to position the holder in the ironworker, punch, press brake, etc., as is conventional.

It is a unique feature of this invention that punching means 26 are provided on the upper arm 11 in a manner which allows punching of workpieces having angles legs, such as an angle or a channehin' a manner which allows the leg to be pointing up while being punched. For this purpose, the punching means is providedwith an elongated downwardly extending punch guide 30 having a narrow thickness t in the direction of the longitudinal length of the C-frame and a substantially greater thickness T in the dimension transverse to the longitudinal length of the holder 10. The required mass to provide the necessary strength in the upper arm is thus obtained by the transverse width dimension with the narrow longitudinal thickness allowing operation of 4 either along its length or along its transverse dimension without also balancing the workpiece on the die.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3 is identical in most respects to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 but differs therefrom in that the embodiment of FIG. 3 is provided with a pedestal or upwardly extending die holder 60 having a thickness 2 along the length of the C-shaped frame 10 equal to the thickness of the upper punch guide 30 of this embodiment and that of FIGS. 1 and 2. The die holder 60 extends upwardly from a modified lower arm 61 a distance equal to the downward extension from the upper arm of the punch guide 10. Thus the tool is able to punch I-bars or other shaped structural member W1 having oppositely directed legs while employing all of the advantageous features described above with reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. The strength of the pedestal 60 and the punch guide 30 as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is derived from a thickness in the dimension transverse to the length of the C-frame substantially greater than the thickness t and in the preferred form of the embodiment of FIG. 3 is equal to the thickness Tof the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In many cases, of course, the capacity of the ironworker will require heavier-duty or lighter-duty tooling and the exact dimensions of the length and transverse thicknesses will vary to handle larger or smaller structural members. The strength of the tooling, however, will be derived from the use of a greater transverse thickness. As in the embodiment of FIG. 3 the large tooling also is provided with the dual stripperv springs 40 as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

the punch close to the upwardly facinglegs of the workpiece.

Positioned in the punch guide 30 for vertical reciprocation is a punch 32 held in a retainer block 34 by a punch retainer 36. The punch guide is provided with spaced bores 38 on either side of the punch. Lifter springs 39 are positioned in the bores. The lifter springs engage the bottom of guide pins 40 which butt against a punch guide bushing 42. Stripper springs 44 load the retainer block 34 upwardly. As'is well known, downward movement of the punch by action of the ram pushes the punch retainer block 34 downwardly until the guide bushing abuts the workpiece. Further downward movement of the retainer block compresses the stripper springs 44. When the ram is raised, the punch guide bushing is raised by the lifter springs 39 and the punch is stripped from the workpiece by the stripper springs 44. The stripper springs are placed on either side of the punch in the space provided by the larger transverse dimension T.

As best seen in FIG. 1, a workpiece such as the angle W may be punched first with a leg facing upwardly. To punch a hole in the opposite leg the workpiece is removed from the holder, rotated and slid counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1 into the phantom line position. As is apparent, the workpiece may be easily repositioned into the phantom line position without turning end-for-end. As mentioned above, the holes may be made close to the upwardly facing leg in either the solid line or the phantom position. The angle is selfsupported on the leg being punched since a substantial portion of. its surface can be carried on the workpiece supporting surface 20. Thus the workman is free to slide the workpiece under the punch for positioning it While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described it should be understood that variations will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited by the specific forms described.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

v 1. A unitized tooling unit comprising a C-frame holder having an upper arm and a base defining a throat therebetween, a die mounted on said base and surrounded by a workpiece supporting surface, a punch guide on said upper arm having a throat side and an outer side and extending downwardly to a position closely adjacent said workpiece supporting surface, a punch movably secured to said upper arm for vertical reciprocation in said punch guide between extended and retracted positions, stripper spring means for returning the punch to the retracted position, and said punch guide having a first thickness along the length of said holder substantially less than a second thickness of the punch guide transverse to said length of said holder whereby workpieces having at least two legs at an angle to one another can be punched with one leg pointing toward said upper arm and the other leg on the die with the upwardly pointing leg placed close to the throat side of the guide for punching holes in the leg on the die close to the upwardly pointing leg.

2. The unit claim 1 said stripper spring means including a pair of stripper springs positioned on opposite sides of said punch, said springs and punch lying in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal length of said holder.

3. The unit of claim 2 said tooling unit having a standard die height, said workpiece having only two legs at an angle to each other whereby one leg can be positioned pointing upwardly and placed closely to the throat side of the punch guide or the other leg can be positioned pointing upwardly and placed closely to the opposite side of the punch guide.

4. The unit of claim 2 said tooling unit having a die height larger than standard, said workpiece having a center leg and at least one end leg having portions extending outwardly in two directions from said center leg, said die being mounted in a pedestal extending upwardly from said base a distance sufficient to receive one of said portions of end leg when the other portion is pointing upwardly and close tothe throat side of the punch guide.

5. A unitized tooling unit for punching structural members having legs at angles to each other, comprising a C-frame type holder having an upper arm, a base, and a back joining said base and upper arm and defining a throat therebetween, punching means on said upper arm, die means on said base in axial alignment with said punching means, said punching means extending downwardly a substantial distance so as to permit one leg of the structural member to be punched while another leg of said structural member is pointing upwardly toward said upper arm and on the side of said punching means closest to said back, the thickness of said punching means in the direction transverse to said arm being greater than the thickness longitudinally of said arm, and at least two stripper springs located laterally on either side of said punching means and within said longitudinal thickness for providing a strong balanced stripping force.

6. The unit of claim 5 said base including a structural member supporting surface surrounding said die means so that said supporting surface will support a structural member having two legs at an angle to each other when in a leg-up position.

7. The unit of claim 5 said base having an elongated upper surface and a pedestal, said structural member having a center leg and an end leg at an angle to said center leg with said end leg having portions extending upwardly and downwardly, said pedestal extending upwardly from said elongated upper surface a distance sufficient to receive a downward portion of said end leg close to the back facing side of said pedestal. 

1. A unitized tooling unit comprising a C-frame holder having an upper arm and a base defining a throat therebetween, a die mounted on said base and surrounded by a workpiece supporting surface, a punch guide on said upper arm having a throat side and an outer side and extending downwardly to a position closely adjacent said workpiece supporting surface, a punch movably secured to said upper arm for vertical reciprocation in said punch guide between extended and retracted positions, stripper spring means for returning the punch to the retracted position, and said punch guide having a first thickness along the length of said holder substantially less than a second thickness of the punch guide transverse to said length of said holder whereby workpieces having at least two legs at an angle to one another can be punched with one leg pointing toward said upper arm and the other leg on the die with the upwardly pointing leg placed close to the throat side of the guide for punching holes in the leg on the die close to the upwardly pointing leg.
 2. The unit claim 1 said stripper spring means including a pair of stripper springs positioned on opposite sides of said punch, said springs and punch lying in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal length of said holder.
 3. The unit of claim 2 said tooling unit having a standard die height, said workpiece having only two legs at an angle to each other whereby one leg can be positioned pointing upwardly and placed closely to the throat side of the punch guide or the other leg can be positioned pointing upwardly and placed closely to the opposite side of the punch guide.
 4. The unit of claim 2 said tooling unit having a die height larger than standard, said workpiece having a center leg and at least one end leg having portions extending outwardly in two directions from said center leg, said die being mounted in a pedestal extending upwardly from said base a distance sufficient to receive one of said portions of end leg when the other portion is pointing upwardly and close to the throat side of the punch guide.
 5. A unitized tooling unit for punching structural members having legs at angles to each other, comprising a C-frame type holder having an upper arm, a base, anD a back joining said base and upper arm and defining a throat therebetween, punching means on said upper arm, die means on said base in axial alignment with said punching means, said punching means extending downwardly a substantial distance so as to permit one leg of the structural member to be punched while another leg of said structural member is pointing upwardly toward said upper arm and on the side of said punching means closest to said back, the thickness of said punching means in the direction transverse to said arm being greater than the thickness longitudinally of said arm, and at least two stripper springs located laterally on either side of said punching means and within said longitudinal thickness for providing a strong balanced stripping force.
 6. The unit of claim 5 said base including a structural member supporting surface surrounding said die means so that said supporting surface will support a structural member having two legs at an angle to each other when in a leg-up position.
 7. The unit of claim 5 said base having an elongated upper surface and a pedestal, said structural member having a center leg and an end leg at an angle to said center leg with said end leg having portions extending upwardly and downwardly, said pedestal extending upwardly from said elongated upper surface a distance sufficient to receive a downward portion of said end leg close to the back facing side of said pedestal. 